HORROR VACUI

VALERIE KUEHNE

“Horror Vacui” was a tour that materialized as the result of an artistic union breaking apart. The absent collaborator was replaced last minute by a green mechanical pig (Mr. Bacon) and the remaining collaborator (Ms. Kuehne) embarked on a physical and psychic journey that aspired to synthesize the gap between psychology and self-awareness that another’s disappearance projects.

The performance “itself” (as witnessed by midwestern audiences) was an exercise in characterizing and establishing intimacy with total strangers, effectively conjuring the missing collaborator’s presence and exorcising The Void. Under the auspices of the idea that “consuming too much of anything kills because nature abhors a fucking vacuum” the performer set out to eradicate the distance between performer and witness. This was achieved both verbally (the performer divulged personal information about her life that led to her present state of solitude) and physically (feeding the audience pie out of her hand; taking off her clothes and smearing pie all over her body).

The content of the performance consisted of original songs for cello and voice that developed the personal experiences revealed by the performer in the opening of the performance (joining an evangelist cult/struggling with bulimia and drug addiction/working in the porn industry/having a fallopian tube removed as the result of an ectopic pregnancy/psychiatric hospitalization, etc).

In so many words, the performance payed homage to the missing collaborator.

Mr. Bacon was present for the duration of the performance; either on stage or trapped in an adjacent bathroom.